Chamber and committees

In some cases, it can be that victims and witnesses of hate crime including disability-related hate crime do not feel comfortable reporting the matter directly to Police Scotland and may be more comfortable reporting it to someone they are familiar with.

That is why Police Scotland works in partnership with a wide variety of partners who perform the role of third party reporting centres. The staff within third party reporting centres have been trained to assist a victim or witness in submitting a report to the police and can make such a report on the victim/witnesses behalf. Examples of third party reporting centres participating in the Police Scotland scheme range from housing associations to victim support offices and voluntary groups.

Police Scotland have made considerable progress in recent years through the development of third party reporting centres and online reporting of hate crime to help support people affected by hate crime including disability-related hate crime. In addition, specific statutory disability hate crime aggravations were introduced through the Offences (Aggravated by Prejudice) (Scotland) Act 2009 which has improved the recording of hate crime and ensures the court must consider whether to increase an offender's sentence to reflect that an offence has been motivated by malice or ill-will towards another person based on their characteristics relating to their identity such as having a disability.

Efforts will continue by partners in the justice system including Police Scotland and the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service to encourage victims of hate crime to report incidents so access to justice can take place and for a robust approach in dealing with such crimes to continue.

Tackling hate crime in partnership with key stakeholders and affected communities is a key priority. The Scottish Government believes hate crime to be unacceptable in modern day Scotland, and we are committed to eradicating it from society. We have already strengthened the law in this area, continue to work closely with Police Scotland and others to encourage reporting and are investing over £20 millionin 2015-16 to achieve equality and tackle discrimination. As we develop our approach, we are looking with interest at the approaches taken in other jurisdictions.

In July 2014, the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service published their annual Hate Crime in Scotland publication. This report indicated that in 2013-14, 154 charges were reported to prosecutors with an aggravation of prejudice relating to disability, 12% more than in 2012-13 (17 additional charges). The report went on to advise that court proceedings were commenced in respect of 126 charges (82%), a higher proportion than in previous years. In total 130 (84%) of charges led to court proceedings, including those not separately prosecuted, but which may have been incorporated into other charges for the same accused.

The report indicated that no action was taken in respect of 7 charges (5%), a lower rate than in previous years. The most common reason for taking no action was the lack of sufficient admissible evidence for the substantial charge even though there was sufficient evidence for the disability aggravation associated with the charge. If there are no proceedings on the substantial charge, there can be no proceedings on an aggravation associated with the charge.

At the time this report was compiled, 13 charges (8%) were awaiting the outcome of further enquiries before a final decision on proceedings.

More generally, the report noted there is a broad consensus that disability-related hate crime may well be under reported compared to other forms of hate crime. Both Police Scotland and the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service are engaged in a variety of activities aimed at increasing the level of awareness, especially amongst disability communities, that hate crime is unacceptable and should not be tolerated.

The current total number of staff directly employed by the eight Innovation Centres is 65. This number was broken down by centre in the answer to question S4W-25217 on 29 April 2015.

This does not take account of in-kind staff contributions across industry and academic partners. Projects funded by Innovation Centres will also include academic and industry staff time.

Innovation Centres are in the initial phase of development and we do not know how many indirect jobs have been created at this stage. Their business plans indicate that they have the potential to create up to 5,000 jobs in their first five years.

The focus for each of the Innovation Centres has been in establishing the framework for effective operations through recruitment of key board members and operating staff and in securing the initial academia-industry projects that will drive the growth in each industry sector and lead to the creation of new jobs.

All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at:

http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx

The total budget for each Innovation Centre is provided in the following table. It includes indicative funding from the Scottish Funding Council (SFC), academic institutions, private enterprise and other major sources.

Note: This information was provided by the SFC.

It should be noted that with the exception of SFC funding, all figures are indicative and are based on current estimates as set out in the Innovation Centres’ business plans.

The Scottish Government is investing in Innovation Centres through the Scottish Funding Council (SFC), which has committed £124 million of funding for the Innovation Centres programme over six years (2013-19) comprising £110 million of core funding and £14 million to support capital investment. An additional £2 million per annum has also been set aside for postgraduate training places at the Innovation Centres.

As announced in the Programme for Government, an Innovation Centre challenge fund of £1 million will also be launched in academic year 2015-16. This will support the centres to work together on industrial and societal challenges.

To date, the SFC has approved £78.5 million of the core funding (out of the £110 million core funding) towards the eight Innovation Centres and this is outlined in the following table:

Note: Data was provided by the SFC

Initially, the Innovation Centres have focused on building the necessary and appropriate infrastructure in terms of staff and operating processes. However spend is expected to increase significantly once project activity accelerates.

Currently, the total number of staff directly employed by the eight Innovation Centres is 65. The following table breaks this down by centre.

The numbers in the table are based on current ‘core’ team structure and those directly employed by the Innovation Centres. This does not take account of in-kind staff contributions across industry and academic partners. Numbers are subject to change as the Innovation Centres continue to grow and develop.

Note: Data provided by the Scottish Funding Council

The Scottish Government has published a range of proposals for how full fiscal responsibility within the UK could operate. These include:

Fiscal Autonomy in Scotland: The case for change and options for reform (February 2009)

http://www.gov.scot/Resource/Doc/261814/0078318.pdf

Your Scotland, Your Voice: A National Conversation (November 2009)

http://www.gov.scot/Publications/2009/11/26155932/0

More Powers for the Scottish Parliament: Scottish Government Proposals (November 2014)

http://www.gov.scot/Resource/0046/00460563.pdf

Cabinet regularly discusses the ambition for greater powers for Scotland.